XEmacs
is a version of
Emacs,
compatible with and containing many improvements over
GNUEmacs,
written by Richard Stallman of the Free Software Foundation. It was
originally based on an early release of
GNU Emacs Version19,
and has tracked subsequent releases of
GNU Emacs
as they have become available.
The primary documentation of
XEmacs
is in the
XEmacs ReferenceManual,
which you can read on-line using Info, a subsystem of
XEmacs.
Please look there for complete and up-to-date documentation.
Complete documentation on using Emacs Lisp is available on-line
through the
XEmacs Lisp Programmer'sManual.
Both manuals also can be printed out nicely using the
TeX
formatting package.
The user functionality of
XEmacs
encompasses everything other
Emacs
editors do, and it is easily extensible since its
editing commands are written in Lisp.
XEmacs
has an extensive interactive help facility,
but the facility assumes that you know how to manipulate
XEmacs
windows and buffers.
CTRL-h enters the Help facility. Help Tutorial (CTRL-h t)
requests an interactive tutorial which can teach beginners the fundamentals
of
XEmacs
in a few minutes.
Help Apropos (CTRL-h a) helps you
find a command given its functionality, Help Key Binding (CTRL-h k)
describes a given key sequence's effect, and Help Function (CTRL-h f)
describes a given Lisp function specified by name. You can also
look up key sequences in the
XEmacs Reference Manual
using Lookup Key Binding (CTRL-h CTRL-k),
and look up Lisp functions in the
XEmacs Lisp Programmer's Manual
using Lookup Function (CTRL-h CTRL-f). All of these help functions,
and more, are available on the Help menu if you are using a window
system.
XEmacs
has extensive GUI (graphical user interface) support when running under
a window system such as
X,
including multiple frames (top-level windows), a menubar, a toolbar,
horizontal and vertical scrollbars, dialog boxes, and extensive mouse
support.
XEmacs
has full support for multiple fonts and colors, variable-width fonts,
and variable-height lines, and allows for pixmaps to be inserted into
a buffer. (This is used in the W3 web-browsing package and in some
of the debugger and outlining interfaces, among other things.)
XEmacs's
Undo can undo several steps of modification to your buffers, so it is
easy to recover from editing mistakes.
XEmacs's
many special packages handle mail reading (VM, MH-E and RMail) and
sending (Mail), Usenet news reading and posting (GNUS), World Wide Web
browsing (W3), specialized modes for editing source code in all common
programming languages, syntax highlighting for many languages
(Font-Lock), compiling (Compile), running subshells within
XEmacs
windows (Shell), outline editing (Outline), running a Lisp read-eval-print
loop (Lisp-Interaction-Mode), and automated psychotherapy (Doctor).
There is an extensive reference manual, but users of other Emacsen
should have little trouble adapting even without a copy. Users new to
Emacs will be able to use basic features fairly rapidly by studying
the tutorial and using the self-documentation features.
XEmacs Options
XEmacs accepts all standard X Toolkit command line options when run in
an X Windows environment. In addition, the following options are accepted
(when options imply a sequence of actions to perform, they are
performed in the order encountered):
-t file
Use specified
file
as the terminal instead of using stdin/stdout. This implies
-nw.
-batch
Edit in batch mode. The editor will send messages to stdout. You
must use the
-l,
-f,
and
-eval
options to specify files to execute and functions to call.
-nw
Inhibit the use of any window-system-specific display code: use the
current TTY.
-debug-init
Enter the debugger if an error occurs loading the init file.
-unmapped
Do not map the initial frame.
-no-site-file
Do not load the site-specific init file (site-start.el).
-q, -no-init-file
Do not load an init file.
-no-early-packages
Do not process the early packages.
-vanilla
Load no extra files at startup. Equivalent to the combination of
-q
,
-no-site-file
, and
-no-early-packages
.
-u user, -user user
Load
user's
init file.
file
Edit
file.
+number
Go to the line specified by
number
(do not insert a space between the "+" sign and the number).
-help
Print a help message and exit.
-V, -version,
Print the version number and exit.
-f function, -funcall function
Execute the lisp function
function.
-l file, -load file
Load the Lisp code in the file
file.
-eval form
Evaluate the Lisp form
form.
-i file, -insert file
Insert
file
into the current buffer.
-kill
Exit
XEmacs
(useful with
-batch).
Using XEmacs with X Windows
XEmacs
has been tailored to work well with the X window system.
If you run
XEmacs
from under X windows, it will create its own X window to display in.
XEmacs
can be started with the following standard X options:
-visual <visualname><bitdepth>
Select the visual that XEmacs will attempt to use.
<visualname>
should be one of the strings "StaticColor", "TrueColor", "GrayScale",
"PseudoColor" or "DirectColor", and
<bitdepth>
should be the number of bits per pixel (example, "-visual TrueColor24"
for a 24bit TrueColor visual) See
X(1)
for more information.
-privateColormap
Require XEmacs to create and use a private colormap for display. This
will keep XEmacs from taking colors from the default colormap and
keeping them from other clients, at the cost of causing annoying
flicker when the focus changes. Use this option only if your X server
does not support 24 bit visuals.
-geometry ##x##+##+##
Specify the geometry of the initial window. The ##'s represent a number;
the four numbers are width (characters), height (characters), X offset
(pixels), and Y offset (pixels), respectively. Partial specifications of
the form
##x##
or
+##+##
are also allowed. (The geometry
specification is in the standard X format; see
X(1)
for more information.)
-iconic
Specifies that the initial window should initially appear iconified.
-name name
Specifies the program name which should be used when looking up
defaults in the user's X resources.
-title title, -T title, -wn title
Specifies the title which should be assigned to the
XEmacs
window.
-d displayname, -display displayname
Create the
XEmacs
window on the display specified by
displayname.
Must be the first option specified in the command line.
-font font, -fn font
Set the
XEmacs
window's font to that specified by
font.
You will find the various
X
fonts in the
/usr/lib/X11/fonts
directory.
XEmacs
works with either fixed- or variable-width fonts, but will probably
look better with a fixed-width font.
-scrollbar-width pixels
Specify the width of the vertical scrollbars.
-scrollbar-height pixels
Specify the height of the horizontal scrollbars.
-bw pixels, -borderwidth pixels
Set the
XEmacs
window's border width to the number of pixels specified by
pixels.
Defaults to one pixel on each side of the window.
-ib pixels, -internal-border-width pixels
Specify the width between a frame's border and its text, in pixels.
Defaults to one pixel on each side of the window.
-fg color, -foreground color
Sets the color of the text.
See the file
/usr/lib/X11/rgb.txt
for a list of valid
color names.
-bg color, -background color
Sets the color of the window's background.
-bd color, -bordercolor color
Sets the color of the window's border.
-mc color
Sets the color of the mouse pointer.
-cr color
Sets the color of the text cursor.
-rv, -reverse
Reverses the foreground and background colors (reverse video). Consider
explicitly setting the foreground and background colors instead of using
this option.
-xrm argument
This allows you to set an arbitrary resource on the command line.
argument
should be a resource specification, as might be found in your
.Xresources
or
.Xdefaults
file.
You can also set resources, i.e.
X
default values, for your
XEmacs
windows in your
.Xresources
or
.Xdefaults
file (see
xrdb(1)).
Use the following format:
Emacs.keyword:value
or
Emacs*EmacsFrame.keyword:value
where
value
specifies the default value of
keyword.
(Some resources need the former format; some the latter.)
You can also set resources for a particular frame by using the
format
Emacs*framename.keyword:value
where
framename
is the resource name assigned to that particular frame.
(Certain packages, such as VM, give their frames unique resource
names, in this case "VM".)
XEmacs
lets you set default values for the following keywords:
If set to
on,
the window will be displayed in reverse video. Consider
explicitly setting the foreground and background colors instead
of using this resource.
borderWidth (class BorderWidth)
Sets the window's border width in pixels.
internalBorderWidth (class InternalBorderWidth)
Sets the window's internal border width in pixels.
borderColor (class BorderColor)
Sets the color of the window's border.
cursorColor (class Foreground)
Sets the color of the window's text cursor.
pointerColor (class Foreground)
Sets the color of the window's mouse cursor.
emacsVisual (class EmacsVisual)
Sets the default visual
XEmacs
will try to use (as described above).
privateColormap (class PrivateColormap)
If set,
XEmacs
will default to using a private colormap.
geometry (class Geometry)
Sets the geometry of the
XEmacs
window (as described above).
iconic (class Iconic)
If set to on, the
XEmacs
window will initially appear as an icon.
menubar (class Menubar)
Whether the
XEmacs
window will have a menubar. Defaults to true.
initiallyUnmapped (class InitiallyUnmapped)
Whether
XEmacs
will leave the initial frame unmapped when it starts up.
barCursor (class BarCursor)
Whether the cursor should be a bar instead of the traditional box.
title (class Title)
Sets the title of the
XEmacs
window.
iconName (class Title)
Sets the icon name for the
XEmacs
window icon.
scrollBarWidth (class ScrollBarWidth)
Sets the width of the vertical scrollbars, in pixels. A width of 0
means no vertical scrollbars.
scrollBarHeight (class ScrollBarHeight)
Sets the height of the horizontal scrollbars, in pixels. A height of 0
means no horizontal scrollbars.
scrollBarPlacement (class ScrollBarPlacement)
Sets the position of vertical and horizontal scrollbars. Should be one
of the strings "top-left", "bottom-left", "top-right", or "bottom-right".
The default is "bottom-right" for the Motif and Lucid scrollbars and
"bottom-left" for the Athena scrollbars.
topToolBarHeight (class TopToolBarHeight)
Sets the height of the top toolbar, in pixels. 0 means no top toolbar.
bottomToolBarHeight (class BottomToolBarHeight)
Sets the height of the bottom toolbar, in pixels. 0 means no
bottom toolbar.
leftToolBarWidth (class LeftToolBarWidth)
Sets the width of the left toolbar, in pixels. 0 means no left toolbar.
rightToolBarWidth (class RightToolBarWidth)
Sets the width of the right toolbar, in pixels. 0 means no right toolbar.
Sets the pixmap of the top shadows for the toolbars. (For all toolbars,
not just the toolbar at the top of the frame.) If set, this
resource overrides the corresponding color resource.
Sets the pixmap of the bottom shadows for the toolbars. (For all toolbars,
not just the toolbar at the bottom of the frame.) If set, this
resource overrides the corresponding color resource.
Thickness of the shadows around the toolbars, in pixels.
visualBell (class VisualBell)
Whether XEmacs should flash the screen rather than making an audible beep.
bellVolume (class BellVolume)
Volume of the audible beep. Range is 0 through 100.
useBackingStore (class UseBackingStore)
Whether
XEmacs
should set the backing-store attribute of the
X
windows it creates. This increases the memory usage of the
X
server but decreases the amount of
X
traffic necessary to update the screen, and is useful when the
connection to the
X
server goes over a low-bandwidth line such as a modem connection.
textPointer (class Cursor)
The cursor to use when the mouse is over text.
selectionPointer (class Cursor)
The cursor to use when the mouse is over a mouse-highlighted
text region.
spacePointer (class Cursor)
The cursor to use when the mouse is over a blank space in a buffer (that
is, after the end of a line or after the end-of-file).
modeLinePointer (class Cursor)
The cursor to use when the mouse is over a mode line.
gcPointer (class Cursor)
The cursor to display when a garbage-collection is in progress.
scrollbarPointer (class Cursor)
The cursor to use when the mouse is over the scrollbar.
pointerColor (class Foreground)
The foreground color of the mouse cursor.
pointerBackground (class Background)
The background color of the mouse cursor.
Using the Mouse
The following lists the mouse button bindings for the
XEmacs
window under X11.
MOUSE BUTTONFUNCTION
leftSet point or make a text selection.
middlePaste text.
rightPop up a menu of options.
SHIFT-leftExtend a selection.
CTRL-leftMake a selection and insert it at point.
CTRL-middleSet point and move selected text there.
CTRL-SHIFT-leftMake a selection, delete it, and insert it at point.
META-leftMake a rectangular selection.
FILES
Lisp code is read at startup from the user's init file,
$HOME/.emacs.
/usr/local/info - files for the Info documentation browser
(a subsystem of
XEmacs)
to refer to. The complete text of the
XEmacs Reference Manual
and the
XEmacs Lisp Programmer's Manual
is included in a convenient tree structured form.
/usr/local/lib/xemacs-$VERSION/info - the Info files may be here instead.
/usr/local/lib/xemacs-$VERSION/lisp/* - Lisp source files and compiled files
that define most editing commands. The files are contained in subdirectories,
categorized by function or individual package. Some are preloaded;
others are autoloaded from these directories when used.
/usr/local/lib/xemacs-$VERSION/etc - some files of information, pixmap
files, other data files used by certain packages, etc.
/usr/local/lib/xemacs-$VERSION/$CONFIGURATION - various programs that are used
with XEmacs.
/usr/local/lib/xemacs-$VERSION/$CONFIGURATION/DOC -
contains the documentation strings for the Lisp primitives and
preloaded Lisp functions of XEmacs.
They are stored here to reduce the size of XEmacs proper.
There is a newsgroup, comp.emacs.xemacs, for reporting
XEmacs
bugs and fixes and requesting help. But before reporting something
as a bug, please try to be sure that it really is a bug, not a
misunderstanding or a deliberate feature. We ask you to read the section
``Reporting XEmacs Bugs'' near the end of the reference manual (or Info
system) for hints on how and when to report bugs. Also, include the version
number of the
XEmacs
you are running and the system you are running it on
in every bug report that you send in. Finally, the more you can
isolate the cause of a bug and the conditions it happens under, the more
likely it is to be fixed, so please take the time to do so.
The newsgroup is bidirectionally gatewayed to and from the mailing list
[email protected]. You can read the list instead of the newsgroup if
you do not have convenient Usenet news access. To request to be added
to the mailing list, send mail to [email protected]. (Do not
send mail to the list itself.)
The
XEmacs
maintainers read the newsgroup regularly and will attempt to
fix bugs reported in a timely fashion. However, not every message will
get a response from one of the maintainers. Note that there are many
people other than the maintainers who read the newsgroup, and will usually
be of assistance in helping with any problems encountered.
If you need more personal assistance than can be provided by the
newsgroup, look in the SERVICE file (see above) for a list of people
who offer it.
For more information about XEmacs mailing lists, see the
file /usr/local/lib/xemacs-$VERSION/etc/MAILINGLISTS.
UNRESTRICTIONS
XEmacs
is free; anyone may redistribute copies of
XEmacs
to
anyone under the terms stated in the
XEmacs
General Public License,
a copy of which accompanies each copy of
XEmacs
and which also
appears in the reference manual.
Copies of
XEmacs
may sometimes be received packaged with distributions of Unix systems,
but it is never included in the scope of any license covering those
systems. Such inclusion violates the terms on which distribution
is permitted. In fact, the primary purpose of the General Public
License is to prohibit anyone from attaching any other restrictions
to redistribution of
XEmacs.
XEmacs
was written by
Steve Baur <[email protected]>,
Martin Buchholz <[email protected]>,
Richard Mlynarik <[email protected]>,
Hrvoje Niksic <[email protected]>,
Chuck Thompson <[email protected]>,
Ben Wing <[email protected]>,
Jamie Zawinski <[email protected]>,
and many others.
It was based on an early version of
GNU Emacs Version19,
written by Richard Stallman <[email protected]> of the Free Software
Foundation, and has tracked subsequent releases of
GNU Emacs
as they have become available. It was originally written by Lucid, Inc.
(now defunct) and was called
LucidEmacs.
Chuck Thompson wrote the
XEmacs
redisplay engine, maintains the
XEmacs
FTP and WWW sites, and has put out all releases of
XEmacs
since 19.11 (the first release called
XEmacs).
Ben Wing wrote the Asian-language support, the on-line documentation
(including this man page and much of the FAQ), the external widget code,
and retooled or rewrote most of the basic, low-level
XEmacs
subsystems. Jamie Zawinski put out all releases of
LucidEmacs,
from the first (19.0) through the last (19.10), and was the primary
code contributor for all of these releases. Richard Mlynarik rewrote
the
XEmacs
Lisp-object allocation system, improved the keymap and minibuffer code,
and did the initial synching of
XEmacs
with
GNU Emacs Version19.
Many others have also contributed significantly. For more detailed
information, including a long history of XEmacs from multiple
viewpoints and pretty pictures and bios of the major XEmacs
contributors, see the
XEmacs About Page
(the About XEmacs option on the Help menu).
MORE INFORMATION
For more information about XEmacs, see the
XEmacs About Page
(mentioned above),
look in the file /usr/local/lib/xemacs-$VERSION/etc/NEWS,
or point your Web browser at
The
XEmacs
FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) can be found at the Web site just listed.
A possibly out-of-date version is also accessible through the Info system
inside of XEmacs.
The latest version of XEmacs can be downloaded using anonymous
FTP from
or from a mirror site near you. Mirror sites are listed in the file
etc/FTP in the XEmacs distribution or see the Web site for an up-to-date
list of mirror sites.
